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Friday, October 24th, 2003, Winnipeg Free Press
By Garth A. Buchholz
MOZART would have loved it.
The crazy little composer would have been the first on his feet during the standing ovation for choreographer Mark Godden's world premiere of The Magic Flute, based on Mozart's famous opera, at the Royal Winnipeg Ballet's season opener Wednesday night.
The anachronistic costumes were flamboyant, the Monty Pythonesque props were hilarious and the passionately performed live music from the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra, professional opera singers and music students was an aural banquet.
Longtime RWB choreographer and now guest choreographer Godden has had his certified hits, such as Angels in the Architecture and Dracula, as well as his experimental misses, such as Dames aux Fruits. His works seem to range from manic burlesques to relentlessly sombre, minimalist studies, but in The Magic Flute he has managed to meld the profound and the profoundly silly into a truly beautiful contemporary ballet that, even at two and a half hours long with intermission, puts a grin on your face and leaves you feeling good.
Simple? Not so. Godden's maturity and experience enable him to achieve this level of theatrical sophistication and extend it beyond a 20-minute concept piece, which is what many choreographers would have done, into a full-length ballet. He still pulls out his old bag of tricks and bawdy ballet moves, such as a plugged in nightlight that drops from the sky or a gas mask hose that is used as a phallic -- well, you know.
And he pays homage to the mystical themes in Mozart's original, not just borrowing the characters from the libretto but also including some symbolism from the Masonic rites, such as the crystal bricks, the blindfolds and the dagger. Fortunately for the company, he's even made it very portable -- there's very little in the way of sets or set pieces, and most of the two-act ballet is performed with just a black backdrop.
If any constructive criticism can be levelled at this production, it might be that some consideration could be given to shortening it to two hours with intermission for audiences that aren't accustomed to sitting through opera-length works.
The story behind The Magic Flute is terribly complex and mythical -- thankfully, you can toss the program aside if you want and just enjoy the interplay on stage, even if the storyline is inscrutable. The Magic Flute works perfectly in abstract as well as in narrative.
The ballet begins with Tamino (Johnny Wright) literally dropping on to the stage unceremoniously as he enter the Queen of the Night's land, where he is beguiled by the powers of a television set and remote control -- another anachronism. Or is it? Godden's Flute is timeless in many ways because he uses post-modernist irony along with more traditional elements of farce and romance to create his own theatrical universe.
Jesus Corrales as Papageno is a delightfully loopy character in his bright orange cargo pants, but Godden's solid dance infrastructure allows him to dazzle us with leaps and spins. Silver-lam? clad Cindy-Marie Small as Pamina is another stand-out (one of the company's finest dancers), while the flirty Glamazons Cindy Winsor, Vanessa Lawson and Janet Sartore sound the sirens whenever they appear. And the lovely Papagena (Sarah Murphy Dyson) and her father, the striking, scarlet-clad High Priest Sarastro (Alexander Gamayunov), have a strong presence on stage that only comes with advanced technique and confidence.
Sure, there are funky cultural references such some of the '60s-style fashions RWB collaborator Paul Daigle (who partnered with Godden on Dracula) uses for some of his brilliant costumes, but you get the feeling this ballet would be very easy to refresh and remount in 20 years time, unlike the pathologically dated Ecstasy of Rita Joe. You have to love a Canadian-made ballet that uses fur parkas and glistening snow to symbolize love, innocence and forgiveness.
Like the babies who are lowered from the rafters to symbolize "the gift of wonder and spirit that stays with you from childhood," The Magic Flute is a gift of joy to audiences that will no doubt be a big hit when it begins its tour of other Canadian cities this season.
2003 Winnipeg Free Press. All Rights Reserved.
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